Church of the Nazarene AMA 2017
Welcome to the 2017 Church of the Nazarene AMA!
About the Church of the Nazarene
The Church of the Nazarene is a Wesleyan-Holiness denomination that began in the early 1900’s as a conglomeration of various holiness groups around the United States who had emerged from Methodism and campmeeting movements towards the end of the 1800’s. Our history contains threads of both social action and conservative lifestyle guidelines which continue to compete with each other throughout the denomination’s history.
Today, about 70% of membership exists outside the United States, with greatest growth in Africa, Central America, and South Asia. The central framework of global ministry is service to the poor, largely through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, an international NGO that leverages local congregations to tackle poverty, education issues, and disaster relief.
Theologically, the denomination is conservative, although our statement on scripture veers away from a strict inerrancy and claims the Bible contains all truth necessary for salvation only. This allows for enough divergence in interpretation that there are often struggles within the denomination on various doctrines and positions.
The distinctive doctrine in the Church of the Nazarene is entire sanctification or holiness. The concept stems from John Wesley’s notion of Christian perfection and essentially means that Nazarenes believe people can have the kind of relationship with God we were intended to have here and now; we do not need to wait for heaven to enjoy the full grace and peace of God. Over the years, this doctrine has often been simplified and distorted to cause real problems in the lives of people and the denomination – and there are several different streams of theological explanation for holiness, all with their own pet verses, unique vocabulary, and particular modes of expression.
For more general information: http://www.nazarene.org
Manual of the Church of the Nazarene: http://www.nazarene.org/manuals
The Church of the Nazarene Quadrennial General Assembly is currently in session: http://ga2017.com
New 'Catechism' for the Church of the Nazarene: http://www.nazarene.org/onelord/documents
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The panelists
I am a fifth generation member of the Church of the Nazarene and third generation clergy. I have attended Nazarene educational institutions for both undergrad and graduate school. I am personally, likely not a typical Nazarene or Nazarene minister, although I am far more representative of my generation and well versed in the history of beliefs of the denomination. I also help to moderate the generally dead - r/AnonNaz/ - hopefully a place for Nazarenes to be honest conversation with each other.
I'm a life-long Nazarene member, attending and learning about the church for the last 20 something years. I currently serve as a pastor in the Church of the Nazarene in the south eastern part of the U.S. Similarly, I stand out in the denomination as a bit more liberally minded, but I certainly understand the theology and history of the denomination and feel this is still the best place for me.
I have attended and been involved with the Nazarene Church for a little over ten years. I became an official member of the Church of the Nazarene this year. My wife is cradle Nazarene, but we attended other churches until finding our current church home. I have come to love the Nazarene take on Wesleyan Holiness and the church’s place in the Church catholic. I obtained a B.A. in Bible and ministered vocationally briefly 25 years ago in another denominational tradition, but have been in various I.T. roles over the last 17 years, and specifically in Non-profit for 10 years, until recently when I entered IT Consulting.
I've been a member of the Church of the Nazarene for five years, after spending most of my life in a non-denominational church (although both sides of my family are traditionally Wesleyan). I'm in the process of being ordained, and receiving my local license in October of 2015 and will be receiving my District license at District Assembly this July. I recently graduated with a B.S. in religious studies, and despite going to a Baptist school, it's where I really fell in love with the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition. In the fall, I'll begin my studies for an MDiv at Asbury Theological Seminary.
UPDATE: I am not sure of everyone's availability today, I have actually started a new job that may only allow me to answer in spurts, but we will try to answer any questions taht come in during the day. I will also say that you may get very different answers form us because we do have a semi-big tent and our Articles of Faith are purposefully vague at times to allow for differences.
Edit: added new link to now official 'catechism"
Posted Jun 22, 2017, 5:43 AM UTC · edited